Milford woman admits to Harrison Township hit-and-run crash

A 59-year-old Milford woman admitted to hitting and injuring a Harrison Township teenager with her car but maintains she still doesn’t recall the incident.

Margaret Fronczak pleaded guilty Monday to the original charge, leaving the scene of a serious-injury accident, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Fronczak on June 16 drove her car into Kara Duquet, 17, who was riding her bike on Jefferson Avenue in Harrison Township and was thrown into a ditch. Kara suffered two badly broken legs, among other injuries, and remains in recovery.

Fronczak fled the scene, police said. She was arrested nearly a week later after an insurance adjuster noticed her damaged Toyota Corolla at a body shop matched the description in media reports, and contacted police.

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During the plea in front of Judge James Biernat in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens, Fronczak was asked if she was driving in that area that night.

“I understand I was, yes,” she replied.

She was asked if struck a bicyclist.

“I knew the next morning I damaged my car,” said Fronczak, who is free after posting a $50,000 bond.

Her attorney, Daniel Larin, said afterward that Fronczak likely suffered some type of medical incident, possibly a mini-stroke.

“A neurologist thinks she had some sort of incident,” Larin said. “She was driving all night and doesn’t remember.”

He said she wasn’t drunk although she consumed three glasses of wine over seven or eight hours that day in the Mason, Mich., area. Her credit card record shows she purchased gas in Perry, Mich., but also doesn’t recall that, he said.

Kara was struck about 11 p.m. that Saturday night minutes after she finished work busing tables at Terry’s Terrace at Jefferson and Crocker Boulevard, as she started to ride to her home about a mile away.

For her Jan. 8 sentencing, Larin proposed a deal with the judge that she serve her expected sentence of less than one year in the Wayne County Jail, so she can have work-release and keep her job closer to the Detroit facility. The Macomb County Jail no longer offers work-release.

Assistant Macomb prosecutor Michael Servitto said he would not oppose the request and that Kara doesn’t “have any problem with that.”

Fronczak has no prior criminal record.

Kara did not attend the hearing because she was at an appointment, said her grandmother, Connie Fournier of Clinton Township, who attended along with her husband, Ken.

“I’m glad she’s finally owned up to what she did,” Fournier said of Fronczak’s admission. “It will give relief to Kara and her family.”